Junior safety Montae Nicholson to declare for NFL draft

Senior defensive back Demetrious Cox (7), left, and junior safety Montae Nicholson (9) get pumped before a play during the game against Ohio State on Nov. 19, 2016 at Spartan Stadium. The Spartans were defeated by the Buckeyes, 17-16.

Sean Scherer of 247Sports.com first reported Nicholson would be "likely" to forego his senior season and an anonymous source told 247Sports, "Montae is very, very, very, very, very likely to declare for the NFL draft."

A separate undisclosed source told 247Sports "Montae is off to the NFL to pursue his professional career."

MSU head football coach Mark Dantonio has not yet made any comment on Nicholson's decision to declare for the NFL draft.

In his junior season with the Spartans, Nicholson appeared in 11 games in which he finished with a career-high 86 tackles (39 solo and 47 assisted), along with 2 tackles for loss and one interception.

If Nicholson declares for the draft, the 6-foot-2 219-pound native of Monroeville, PA would have finished his Spartan career having appeared in 38 games and finished with 200 total tackles (109 solo and 91 assisted), with 4.5 tackles for loss and four interceptions.

Nicholson will be the second Spartan player to declare for the draft since MSU's season came to an end. Junior defensive lineman Malik McDowell declared on Dec. 5 he would forego his senior season to enter the draft.